Kentucky baseball climbs to No. 18 in week six D1 Baseball Top 25

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Travis Fannon

Kentucky Wildcats outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt (21) rounds third base heading for home plate during the Kentucky vs. Indiana State baseball game on Saturday, March 4, 2023, at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky won 4-2. Photo by Travis Fannon | Staff

Isaiah Pinto, Reporter

Kentucky baseball (21-3) found itself marked at No. 18 in the D1 Baseball week six Top 25 on Monday, earning a higher ranking from the team’s week five spot at No. 23.

Until its 4-3 loss on Sunday to Alabama, Kentucky touted the nation’s longest Division-1 win streak with 17 straight wins, which helped the team become ranked for the first time all season in week five.

Kentucky Wildcats pitcher Colby Frieda (11) pitches the ball during the Kentucky vs. Indiana State baseball game on Sunday, March 5, 2023, at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky won 7-6. Photo by Travis Fannon | Staff (Travis Fannon)

In the past week Kentucky took down Eastern Kentucky 9-3 at Kentucky Proud Park on Tuesday and, following the win, the Wildcats claimed victory in their first two matchups against Alabama to take the series.

Looking at the rankings as a whole, the No. 1-4 teams remained the same with LSU, Wake Forest, Florida and Vanderbilt being ranked as the best teams in college baseball.

Switching things up, Virginia improved from No. 8 to No. 5 after sweeping Florida State to go along with wins over Georgetown and High Point earlier in the week.

Arkansas took the No. 6 spot, followed by Stanford, East Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Louisville, which fell to No. 11 after being placed at No. 6 in week five.

The D1 Baseball Top 25 featured six SEC teams inside the top 10, with the Wildcats being the lowest ranked SEC team in the top 25 despite steadily climbing the ladder.

Kentucky will travel to Bowling Green to face Western Kentucky on Tuesday, March 28, at 6:00 p.m. EST before hosting Missouri for a weekend SEC series in an effort to rise further in the rankings.

The full rankings can be seen below:

  1. LSU Tigers (21-3)
  2. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (22-3)
  3. Florida Gators (22-4)
  4. Vanderbilt Commodores (19-5)
  5. Virginia Cavaliers (22-2)
  6. Arkansas Razorbacks (20-4)
  7. Stanford Cardinal (15-5)
  8. East Carolina Pirates (19-5)
  9. South Carolina Gamecocks (23-2)
  10. Tennessee Volunteers (19-6)
  11. Louisville Cardinals (19-4)
  12. UCLA Bruins (16-5)
  13. North Carolina Tarheels (18-6)
  14. Boston College Eagles (17-5)
  15. Campbell Fighting Camels (19-3)
  16. Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (21-4)
  17. Oklahoma State Cowboys (20-5)
  18. Kentucky Wildcats (21-3)
  19. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (14-7)
  20. UConn Huskies (16-5)
  21. Texas Longhorns (18-7)
  22. Texas Tech Red Raiders (18-7)
  23. Miami Hurricanes (15-9)
  24. West Virginia Mountaineers (18-6)
  25. Iowa Hawkeyes (19-3)